Analyzing Sunrun (NASDAQ:RUN) and CAE (NYSE:CAE)

Sunrun (NASDAQ:RUN – Get Rating) and CAE (NYSE:CAE – Get Rating) are both mid-cap oils/energy companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, dividends and valuation.

Risk and Volatility

Sunrun has a beta of 2.26, indicating that its stock price is 126% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CAE has a beta of 1.63, indicating that its stock price is 63% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Sunrun and CAE’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sunrun	3.35%	1.23%	0.50%
CAE	3.42%	5.60%	2.40%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

86.2% of Sunrun shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 62.0% of CAE shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.3% of Sunrun shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 18.3% of CAE shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Sunrun and CAE’s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sunrun	$1.61 billion	3.44	-$79.42 million	$0.29	89.52
CAE	$2.69 billion	2.51	$113.05 million	$0.31	68.52

CAE has higher revenue and earnings than Sunrun. CAE is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Sunrun, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Sunrun and CAE, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sunrun	0	3	15	0	2.83
CAE	0	1	4	0	2.80

Sunrun presently has a consensus target price of $43.53, indicating a potential upside of 67.67%. CAE has a consensus target price of $33.25, indicating a potential upside of 56.54%. Given Sunrun’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Sunrun is more favorable than CAE.

About Sunrun

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Sunrun Inc. engages in the design, development, installation, sale, ownership, and maintenance of residential solar energy systems in the United States. It also sells solar energy systems and products, such as panels and racking; and solar leads generated to customers. In addition, the company offers battery storage along with solar energy systems. Its primary customers are residential homeowners. The company markets and sells its products through direct-to-consumer approach across online, retail, mass media, digital media, canvassing, field marketing, and referral channels, as well as its partner network. Sunrun Inc. was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

About CAE

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CAE Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides simulation training and critical operations support solutions worldwide. It operates through three segments: Civil Aviation, Defense and Security, and Healthcare. The Civil Aviation segment provides training solutions for flight, cabin, maintenance, and ground personnel in commercial, business, and helicopter aviation; flight simulation training devices; and ab initio pilot training and crew sourcing services, as well as end to end digitally enabled crew management, training operations solutions, and optimization software. The Defense and Security segment offers training and mission support solutions for defense forces across multi-domain operations, OEMs, government agencies and public safety organizations. The Healthcare segment provides integrated education and training solutions, including interventional and imaging simulations, curricula, audiovisual debriefing solutions, center management platforms, and patient simulators for healthcare students and clinical professionals, hospital and university simulation centers, medical and nursing schools, paramedic organizations, defense forces, medical societies, public health agencies and OEMs. The company was formerly known as CAE Industries Ltd. and changed its name to CAE Inc. in 1993. CAE Inc. was incorporated in 1947 and is headquartered in Saint-Laurent, Canada.